Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aureliuswas Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. Marcus Aurelius was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, commonly known as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, is the most significant source of our modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 April 121
CityRome, Italy
pain stress way
Take the shortest route. The one that nature planned - to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculations and pretension.
past rivers mind
Keep in mind how fast things pass by and are gone - those that are now, and those to come. Existence flows past us like a river; the "what" is in constant flux, the "why" has a thousand variations. Nothing is stable, not even what's right here. The infinity of past and future gapes before us - a chasm whose depths we cannot see.
philosophy doctors heaven
Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too - ready to understand heaven and earth. In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them. Nothing earthly succeeds by ignoring heaven, nothing heavenly by ignoring earth.
children thinking plant
Everything is born from change. ...there is nothing nature loves more that to alter what exists and make new things like it. All that exists is the seed of what will emerge from it. You think the only seeds are the one that make plants and children? Go deeper.
life-is-short life-is
Life is short. That's all there is to say. Get what you can from the present - thoughtfully, justly.
men dying fortunate
There is no man so fortunate that there shall not be by him when he is dying some who are pleased with what is going to happen.
life-is-short people important
Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them.
thinking breathe enjoy
To breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
way human-nature wrong-time
My only fear is doing something contrary to human nature - the wrong thing, the wrong way, or at the wrong time.
children moving two
If I and my two children cannot move the gods, the gods must have their reasons.
over-you tunes lasts
When you have been compelled by circumstances to be disturbed in any manner, quickly return to yourself, and do not continue out of tune longer than the compulsion lasts. You will have increasing control over your own harmony by continually returning to it.
cooperation born
We are born for cooperation
thinking attention use
He who pays no attention to what his neighbor does, says or thinks, preferring to concentrate on making his own actions appropriate and justifiable, better uses his time.
morning defining bed
When you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, remember that your defining characteristic-what defines a human being-is to work with others.